Racing notes: Toyota embarrassed' by engine problems

Sunday

Mar 1, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 1, 2009 at 12:02 AM

The president of Toyota Racing Development said he was embarrassed by a rash of engine problems that forced four motor changes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Lee White said the engine issue, which first popped up last week at California, appeared to be related to lubricants and coolings in the motors.

Journal Star news services

The president of Toyota Racing Development said he was embarrassed by a rash of engine problems that forced four motor changes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Lee White said the engine issue, which first popped up last week at California, appeared to be related to lubricants and coolings in the motors that TRD builds at its Costa Mesa, Calif., factory. The motors for Brian Vickers, Scott Speed, David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose all had to be pulled after qualifying Friday.

White said TRD thought the issue was resolved, and was bothered that changes the company made didn't work.

"We thought (the change) was the right direction," White said. "I'm disturbed to say that the right direction apparently was the wrong direction. We came here and thought we had a handle on it. We didn't. We made it worse."

The problem appears within the first 75 miles of use, and once an engine passes that mark, it is good for the remainder of the race.

SAFER RACE: Jeff Gordon feels secure on the track at Las Vegas a year after one of the worst wrecks of his career.

Gordon spun coming out of Turn 2 in last year's race and slammed into the inside retaining wall.

The hit, at a portion of the track where energy-absorbing barriers had not been installed, was so hard it knocked the radiator out of his car.

The four-time series champion was extremely critical of the track after the accident, and speedway officials responded by installing SAFER barriers around the 1.5-mile facility.

NATIONWIDE RACE: Greg Biffle was caught speeding on pit road, had another bad stop, and ran out of gas while leading — twice.

He overcame all of the miscues to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway partly because almost every other driver had similar issues while leading.

Biffle ran out of gas while leading with 54 laps to go, re-claimed the lead after other drivers had their own issues, and then lost his fuel pressure on the final restart.